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Make
a wish and blow out the candles But it doesn't
happen that way. At the end of that embarrassing twenty-four hours,
you are ultimately still the same. Your outlook on life and other
people's views of you are still sadly but truly unchanged. There are also
a few aspects of birthdays that I abhor. Whenever the time to cut
the birthday cake draws near, I find that most reach out to younger
cousins whom earlier they did not care a dime about. They are the
only such beings who can contribute to this awkward situation. They
love cutting cakes and blowing out the candles. Another aspect of birthdays that really confuses me is singing "Happy Birthday". Is it not, I ask, excessively embarrassing to stand, knife in hand (violent, it is too) and listen as others exhibit their vocal talents for your listening pleasure? I hardly ever know what to do, on most occasions preferring to join in wishing myself a Very Happy Birthday! The attitudes
toward birthdays vary with the age factor. One-year-olds take great
pride in stuffing their feet into the painstakingly created masterpiece
of a colourful dinosaur or a miniature of an English belle in a
hooped skirt. Three years on and the birthday kid now wails as his
"supposed" best friend happily punches a replica of a
Ms. Piggy or Kermit the Frog before it has even been tasted. Simply
because the birthday kid refused to share a lollipop. The mother
rushes out in a frenzy to purchase another. Seven and eight-year-olds
of today are more mature - I am told. Britney Spears in a variety
of different outfits or simply a caricature of a ghoul and a ghost
on a black background serve the purpose. As they reach the wonderful
age of ten - there comes a decidedly rapid change. It's the "beginning
of the double digit" - opportunities arise in plenty. The time
of Jurassic Park entailed all cake shops coming out with marshy
cakes full of the terrifying giants while The Ninja Turtles Era
encouraged cakes shaped in the form of a sewer or April O'Neill's
Press Van. The next "big
birthday" comes at the age of thirteen where one transforms
from being a snotty-nosed kid to a trendy teenager. It's also considered
a troublesome age. Amongst my own gifts at that time was a flashy
yellow banner that proclaimed - "Halt! Teenager now lives here".
It adorned the door to my room but unfortunately did not have much
effect. "Sweet
Sixteen" - the time of endless joys. The time us poor Sri Lankans
end up sitting for our O/L's! That's got to be the worst of growing
up. The number
of exams (wretched nonsense!) increases. You undergo changes only
once that first "public exam" is over and done with. The
tendency therefore is to take little pleasure at Sixteenth Birthdays
taking place closer to the end of the year. On then to
eighteen. The age of independence. The fact that I could now legally
drive in this country was the one thing that jolted me awake that
sunny morning. Otherwise this birthday too had no after effects.
It was just rather pleasing to know that I now constituted a part
of our country's population and that now I could legally vote and
get the purple mark on my little finger. Moving away
from the "teens" is a traumatic experience. You've now
got to look your age, think your age and most importantly act your
age. It's inevitably difficult - but most do get through this age.
The only constantly annoying factor being that you've now got to
learn how one shops for Wedding Gifts. On complaining
recently on how droll the "…ty's" sound I was politely
informed that it's anything but dull. The Zero following the respective
digit gives this age an air of authority and respectability - whatever
that means. It's a down-the-hill
journey following this. I am yet to meet a happy and satisfied "Naughty
Forty" who proclaims her true age. On reaching this highly
respected age most are compelled to grow younger year by year. It
is important to otherwise stagnate at an interesting age and refuse
to divulge one's Identity Card Number. During the
Turbulent Teens and the Terrific Twenties, age is simply another
fact of life. The cake will never be adorned with an extra topping
of candle wax thanks to the fact that you were unable to blow them
out simultaneously. But once the
hill has been conquered everything goes awry. One would never dream
of sticking the appropriate number of candles for fear that an under
ten would start addition lessons during the cutting of the cake! Whatever said and done birthdays are a part of our lives. They are pleasing events during the first few years of your life, but as with most material things the fascination pales with age. Enough of that though - many happy returns!
The show won
two more awards, last week as Brad Garrett and Doris Roberts were
honoured for their supporting actor and actress roles on the same
show. The West Wing
also did well, winning Best Drama for the third year running, and
scooping three awards for players in the series. Despite having
23 nominations, more than any other show, the funeral parlour drama,
Six Feet Under, was locked out of almost every category for which
it had a nod. But the show's director, Allan Ball, did pick up the
award for Outstanding Directing for a drama series. Friends Jennifer
Aniston was named outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for
her portrayal of Rachel on Friends. Aniston's better half, Brad
Pitt, who made a one-off appearance on Friends in the last series,
lost out to Frasier's Anthony LaPaglia, for the honour of Outstanding
Guest Actor in a comedy. Allison Janney
took the award for Best Actress in a Drama for her role in NBC's
The West Wing, winning that award for the third year running for
her portrayal of the White House press secretary. John Spencer,
who plays the president's chief executive, Leo McGarry, in the series
was named Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. "Wow,
look at my compadres. They are so happy for me and that says it
all about The West Wing," said Spencer, as he collected his
award. The actor paid tribute the show's writers: "We are given
gold week after week after week," he said. The White House
drama picked up a second award when Stockard Channing was named
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as
the First Lady, Abigail Bartlet. Channing was
soon back on her feet to accept a second award. The actress was
named Outstanding Supporting Actress for her role as Judy Shepard
on the Matthew Shepard Story - the dramatised account of a gay teenager's
murder. The cult comedy
series, Sex and the City, took the award for Outstanding Directing
while the real time drama series, 24, won for outstanding writing. Another writing
award went to the cult comedy show, Saturday Night Live, in the
variety programme section. The telethon
broadcast by TV networks around the world, 10 days after the September
11 attacks, has won an Emmy Award. The show, which featured some
of the biggest names in entertainment, raised millions for the families
of those killed in the attacks on New York and Washington. The programme,
America: A Tribute to Heroes, was named Outstanding Variety, Music
or Comedy Special. The veteran British actor, Albert Finney was named Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in The Gathering Storm, the US Home Box Office network produced the film with the BBC. It also picked up an award for outstanding writing and was named outstanding Made for Television Movie. Another British contender, Jim Broadbent, who played Desmond Morton in The Gathering Storm, was unsuccessful. He lost out in the Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie category, to Michael Moriarty, who played Winton Dean in James Dean. The Late Show
with David Letterman won the battle for late night chat supremacy.
The long running talk show was named Best Variety, Music or Comedy
Series. Letterman, who never turns up at awards shows, was again
absent. The World War
II epic drama, Band of Brothers, was named Outstanding Miniseries.
Tom Hanks accepted the award for outstanding directing on the drama.
"All we did was bring to fiction what happened in history -
it is our great pleasure," he said. Hanks also presented an
award - the first Bob Hope Humanitarian award, to chat show host,
Oprah Winfrey. The veteran talk queen received a standing ovation.
Sobbing, she said it was "beyond expression" to receive
the award. The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences presented the American TV's equivalent of the Oscars at LA' s Shrine Auditorium. In all, the 54th Emmys spanned some 86 categories with 434 separate nominations, with about half of the Academy's 11,000 members believed to have returned their ballot papers. |
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Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
Somewhere
along the way I got the impression that on reaching your birth date
you would undergo a metamorphosis. That once the day came, everything
around you would and should be different. 
sitcom
Everybody Loves Raymond.
